0.@54<?1<; B[VaR N_R Sb[QV[T /_\d[´` RYRPaV\[ PNZ]NVT[ DUNa dVYY UR TVcR aURZ V[ _Rab_[, Vote for change. Vote Conservative CHARLIE WHELAN'S NEW MILITANT TENDENCY INTRODUCTION FROM CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN, ERIC PICKLES ‘New Labour is the political arm of none other than the British people as a whole’ – Tony Blair, Labour Party Manifesto, 1997 ‘It is absolutely fair to describe the Labour Party as the political wing of Unite. It influences Labour more than any other organisation and it is really hard to underestimate the extent to which Unite runs the operations of the party’ – Peter Watt, Labour's former General Secretary, 2010 This document shines a light on the great untold story of British politics: how Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, has taken advantage of Labour’s near bankruptcy and the departure of Tony Blair to gain an unprecedented grip on the party. Under the political direction of Charlie Whelan, Unite is using its financial and organisation muscle to drive government policy and build a Labour Party very different to the one that appealed to Middle England and won three general elections. Instead, with Gordon Brown as leader, there has been a reversal of much-needed public service reforms, a return to industrial militancy and a regression into atavistic class war rhetoric. Charlie Whelan’s New Militant Tendency sets out in detail the way in which, in the three years since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, Unite has spent more than £11 million of its members’ money on buying influence within the Labour Party. This extends from placing a key union operative inside 10 Downing Street to taking effective control of many cash-strapped constituency Labour parties and installing Unite activists and officials as prospective Parliamentary candidates. Since Unite was formed as a super-union as a result of the merger between the TGWU and Amicus, the union has become dominant. A quarter of the Labour Party’s income now comes from Unite and many MPs and PPCs rely on the union for funding, including Gordon Brown and twelve other Cabinet ministers. In 2008, a cash-strapped Labour Party was able to get its accounts signed off only after obtaining a written guarantee of future funding from Unite. Under Tony Blair, the Labour leadership mostly kept the unions at bay, often facing down demands for left-wing policies that would have stifled enterprise and prevented reform. Now, Unite and the other big trade unions are calling the tune and the effects are clear: part-privatisation of the Royal Mail has been abandoned; the flagship Academies programme has been sidelined; and new burdens on business such as the Agency Workers Directive have been imposed. Strikes and other forms of industrial action are on the increase yet senior Cabinet ministers seem reluctant to act. Unite is preparing to cripple British Airways, but it took several days for any minister to speak out. It was only after Lord Adonis, one of the few remaining Blairites in government, condemned Unite that other ministers, including Gordon Brown, made criticisms of the proposed strike. The fact remains that Labour is still propped up by the strikers’ money. Charlie Whelan’s New Militant Tendency reveals a worrying situation within the Labour Party and all the indications are that it will get worse. The new intake of Labour MPs, shaped by the unions in their own image, will be more militant, more left-wing and more reliant on union money than their predecessors. Out will go James Purnell and Alan Millburn: in will come Jack Dromey and Ian Lavery. There will be no appetite for policies to encourage enterprise and drive forward reform. The facts about Unite’s increasing domination should be in the public domain. The British people are entitled to know what kind of government they will get if they vote Labour. page 1 SUMMARY New analysis reveals for the first time the full extent of the control that Charlie Whelan’s Unite is exercising over Gordon Brown and the Labour Party. Buying up Labour’s MPs and PPCs • 148 seats that Labour is contesting at the next election are directly funded by Unite • 167 Labour MPs and PPCs are members of the union • Half of all elected Cabinet Ministers, including Gordon Brown and Ed Balls, have their seats funded by Unite Bankrolling Labour’s Campaign • Under Gordon Brown 25 per cent of Labour’s funding, or £11 million, has come from Unite • Unite saved the Labour Party from bankruptcy in 2008 Fighting Labour’s Campaign on the Ground The union is now running large parts of Labour’s campaign on the ground, including: • Sending out direct mail • Setting up phone banks • Targeting 100,000 voters in 90 marginal constituencies • Running attack websites • Providing thousands in staff help • Holding events for Labour MPs • Co-ordinating a postal votes campaign Co-ordinating Labour’s Campaign Charlie Whelan is now back at the heart of Gordon Brown’s Downing Street playing a central role in Labour’s election campaign. His support for Gordon Brown includes: • Unleashing the ‘forces of hell’ on the Chancellor in the middle of the recession • Putting Unite ‘on an election footing’ • Stopping MPs joining the Hoon-Hewitt attack on Brown • Regularly attending meetings in Downing Street, Parliament and Labour HQ And pushing an anti-reform agenda Unite is using this renewed influence to drive policy to the left including promoting anti-enterprise measures and blocking vital public service reforms: • Opposed to welfare reform • Opposed to flexibility in the labour market • Opposed to social enterprises operating within the NHS • Opposed to voluntary sector involvement in the NHS • Opposed to co-operatives • Opposed to the part-privatisation of Royal Mail page 2 Charlie Whelan’s New Militant Tendency UNITE CONTROLLING THE LABOUR PARTY Unite buying up Labour PPCs and MPs 148 seats that Labour are contesting have received cash from Charlie Whelan’s Unite. Since Q3 2005, Unite has donated to 148 CLPs (one fifth of all seats contested at the next general election). Donations totalled £460,561.81. 58 seats with PPCs seeking to enter Parliament in 2010 receive funding from Unite. Since Q3 2005, Unite has donated to 58 seats with PPCs seeking to enter Parliament in 2010 with contributions worth £156,643.56. 90 seats with incumbent MPs receive cash from Unite. Since Q3 2005, 90 CLPs with incumbent MPs seeking re- election were given £303,918.25 by Unite. Unite has funded 13 elected Cabinet Ministers, including Gordon Brown and Ed Balls. Since Q3 2005, Unite has donated £33,042.38 to the Cabinet, including £1,000 to Gordon Brown and £5,395 to Ed Balls. Mr Balls received the second highest amount from Unite. Ranking Constituency Cabinet Member Donation 1 Dorset South Jim Knight £6,560 2 Morley and Outwood Ed Balls £5,395 3 Coventry North East Bob Ainsworth £4,500 4 Leeds Central Hilary Benn £4,500 5 Paisley and Renfrewshire South Douglas Alexander £4,000 6 Bristol South Dawn Primarolo £1,500 7 Hull West and Hessle Alan Johnson £1,310 8 Doncaster North Ed Miliband £1,000 9 Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath Gordon Brown £1,000 10 Normanton Pontefract and Castleford Yvette Cooper £1,000 11 St Helens South and Whiston Shaun Woodward £1,000 12 Wentworth and Dearne John Healey £1,000 13 Southampton Itchen John Denham £277.38 TOTAL DONATED BY UNITE £33,042.38 For full details, see Appendix A page 3 Funding and Fighting Labour’s election campaign • Since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, Unite have given Labour £11,060,378.83 or 24.59 per cent of Labour’s total funding. • Guarantees ensured Labour escape bankruptcy. ‘In 2008, the Labour Party was only able to get its accounts signed off and avert financial collapse after obtaining a written guarantee from at least one union – Unite – that it will continue to provide significant funding in the future’ (The Times, 29 June 2008). Unite are now running large parts of Labour’s campaign: • Sending out direct mail. Unite are using their contacts database to send emails and letters making the case for Labour. An example is a recent email sent by the joint General-Secretaries of Unite: ‘Unite members have told us that job security and the economy are some of the most important issues to them. There is good news then. Unemployment is down. The economy has started to recover. Gordon Brown has listened to what you and thousands of Unite members have said. He has focused on the economy and performed strongly’ (Email from Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, 23 February 2010). • Unite setting up a virtual phone bank to help Labour. In recent weeks, Unite have stepped up the operations of their online virtual phone bank which allows Unite members to contact their fellow members to ‘urge them to vote Labour when the election comes’ (Hannah Blythyn, Unite Political Officer, ProgressOnline, 24 February 2010; http://www.progressives.org.uk/articles/article.asp?a=5420). • Targeting 100,000 voters in 90 marginal constituencies. Unite aim to contact 100,000 of their members in 90 marginal constituencies in the hope of winning support for Labour. Charlie Whelan has said: ‘In 90 key seats the Unite membership is larger than the current Labour majority. If almost every Unite member voted Labour, we would win the election. If the union delivers votes it has a lot more influence than if it simply delivers cash’ (The Guardian, 13 March 2010). • Launching attacks by Unite4Labour. Unite’s ‘Unite4Labour’ website has been used to launch aggressive attacks on the Conservatives, which the Labour Party would not be able to mount.